Hotel of the Saints [Paperback]

Ursula Hegi (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 22, 2002

The bestselling author of Stones from the River and The Vision of Emma Blau renews her reputation as an extraordinary writer of short stories in this major collection that balances her reader on the magical border of laughter and sorrow.

In Hotel of the Saints, Hegi enters the perspectives of lovers and loners, eccentrics and artists, children and parents: a musician tries to protect her daughter from loving a blind man; a seminary student yearns for the certainty of faith that belonged to him as a boy; a woman transcends her embarrassment for her first love, who has tripled in size.

Ursula Hegi's bicultural background enriches these eleven luminous stories that are set in Europe, Mexico, and the United States. Her characters take risks in searching out the unique places where faith thrives for each of them -- a rundown hotel, the currents of Cabo San Lucas, the embrace of an ex-convict. And once again, she surrounds them with her elegant language and exquisite images.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Anyone who revels in the slow, gentle pace and cumulative power of Ursula Hegi's writing (Stones from the River) will delight in the 11 stories in Hotel of the Saints. In the title piece, a young Jesuit brother helps his aunt redecorate her hotel in a kitschy, irreverent celebration of the saints (the toilet seat in St. Sebastien's room is replaced with an old wooden one that pinches the user). In "Moonwalkers," a young man stands by his father's hospital bedside after his heart transplant, inwardly reviewing their troubled relationship while his father drifts into memorylike reverie of the 27-year-old woman whose donated heart beats inside him. "Lower Crossing" is about putting to sleep an elderly family dog--a friend, essentially, whose life is in the narrator's hands. Some of these stories seem underdeveloped, but all have an emotional force that eddies out from their often minor premises. These are lovely short works from one of America's best novelists. --Regina Marler --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Hegi (Stones from the River) is a literary photographer of the heart. Her first collection of short stories in a decade crosses the globe and the landscape of humans mired in their relationships to each other, themselves, and, in a wrenching tale almost too painful to read, to their dying pets. In the heartbreaking "The End of All Sadness," the narrator "spins" her abusive husband's savage behavior toward her and her daughter. In "Oregon," a son is tormented even as his difficult father's obsession with the young donor of his new heart fuels his recovery. Elsewhere, a Coeur d'Alene mother loses out in her campaign against her daughter's blind boyfriend, and a terminally ill German woman choreographs her death in Mexico on her own terms. Hegi's voice in these and the other seven stories is strong, varied, and beautiful. Readers of Hegi's highly regarded novels won't be disappointed, and one hopes another ten years won't slip by before she publishes another collection. Highly recommended.
- Beth E. Andersen, Ann Arbor District Lib., MI
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 170 pages
• Publisher: Touchstone; First Edition edition (October 22, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743227166
• ISBN-13: 978-0743227162
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.3 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,013,368 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars emotional and entertaining, November 19, 2002

By 

matthew wilson (Geneva) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Hotel of the Saints (Paperback)

One morning a little over a month ago, with too much loose change in my pocket and a desire to read something new, I spotted this brightly coloured book in the book shelf of the UN. I picked it up, had never heard of the author, but the title was evocative and as i said, the cover was lovely. And what a lovely book it turned out to be. The author has a beautiful calm and engaging style of prose and captures the reader in the extraordinariness of the ordinariness of which these stories are founded. From stories dealing with domestic abuse, to suicide, to the end of love- this collection creates a palette of characters whose names escape you as you turn the page but whose vision which you have concocted in your head-haunts you and stays with you. For me one of the best stories was suprisingly 'A woman's perfume' which is as much a coming of age story for a young girl, than it is the lost dreams of adulthood.
The final story 'Lowers crossing' is heartfelt and compassionate, 'Stolen chocolates' is for me about beauty and acceptance and the two stories 'the doves' and 'for their own survival' have similar themes of freedom. It is a wonderful collection and I feel I have allowed myself to be introduced to another author who I anticipate will inhabit my bookshelf for years to come.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Glimpses into German life, June 1, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Hotel of the Saints (Paperback)

I agree with a previous reviewer that the stories in this collection are not quite on the same level as Hegi's wonderful novels Stones in the River and The Vision of Emma Blau. But as a German woman living in the US, just like the author, I felt a pang of nostalgia reading some of the stories. The 12 year old narrator of A Woman's Perfume tells us she likes to read Gisel and Ursel books, a rather cheesy series for girls - goodness, so did I, and now I am reminded of this embarrassing fact! I had forgotten all about those books! I really appreciate these little tidbits in the stories, it makes them so familiar... Ursula Hegi's writing seems more "German" to me than that of some contemporary "real" Germans, i.e. Germans who have not emigrated to the U.S. Maybe it's just because the German names and references stand out more in an English text, I don't know. Anyway, it's an interesting effect.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Charming, entertaining tales, January 28, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Hotel of the Saints (Paperback)

The stories in Hotel of the Saints are heart-warming and at times, charming. "A Woman's Perfume" stands out particularly, as a complex and well-developed story. However, I couldn't help but feel that the book was dominantly quirky without possessing the true boldness of originality. This is a good book to read over the summer, in the spirit of visiting a favorite aunt and being sent off with lovely baked goods, but nothing too deep happens here. So, somewhere between 3 and 4 stars.